Rehearsal Dinner? Second Line? We’re Versatile.

Just about every wedding has a rehearsal dinner the night before.  Sometimes, it’s just a small group: immediate family members and a few close friends and relatives.  If it’s a destination wedding – on Martha’s Vineyard, for example – it’s often open to the entire guest count.  Some are laid back and relaxed, while others are a party unto themselves.

You probably know where this is headed, given that most of our blogs revolve around the music.  But there’s no way around it – live music is better than no live music, and any sort of rehearsal dinner or night-before party is going to be that much better with a band. 

A classy cocktail-style party of drinks and appetizers is perfectly complimented by a jazz trio of drums, bass, and piano.  Or maybe a single instrumental pianist is the right choice for a quiet, intimate gathering.  A more lively party could do well with a quartet of drums, bass, guitar and a vocalist, to play some soft standards and eventually ramp up to some fun rock and pop, so the guests can warm up their dancing feet for the following night’s slew of wedding party songs.

And there are some other neat tricks the band can pull off, as well.  How about a New Orleans-style second line, with multiple horns and drums parading around to When the Saints Go Marching and other festive Dixie, leading the guests from the cocktail hour into the main tent to start the wedding reception’s music and festivities?  The energy this generates is unmistakable: to say it starts the reception off with a bang would be an understatement, and it often carries through for the entirety of the following four hours.  It’s like kick-starting your wedding music playlist, so to speak.

Or how about an acoustic-guitar-and-vocals performance during the ceremony, right on the beach?  An acapella performance by the band in between sets?  Orchestrating a flash mob led by the groom?  We’ve been asked to accommodate some fairly unorthodox requests in all of our years as wedding musicians, performing receptions and parties, and we pride ourselves on saying yes and figuring out how to make it work.  It can be a challenge, but in the end, it’s part of what makes our job fun.

So maybe you decide that you want to add us for something slightly more traditional – a small group of Dukes to perform at your rehearsal dinner.  But if you’ve recently attended a wedding and thought “Wow, that’s cool – I wonder if they can do the same at mine”, or if you have a wacky idea that seems totally original (but maybe logistically questionable), don’t hold back.  Let’s see if we can pull it off!